Dexter: "About Last Night"Review

Warning. The following review contains SPOILERS with regards to the Showtime series Dexter. If you do not to know specifics about episodes or past seasons, read no further...

At this point in the game, the "Dream Harry" warnings don't feel as superfluous as they once did. For a man that we've never seen alive, Harry was getting on my nerves a bit. But now his warnings to Dexter seem a bit poetic and prophetic. In hindsight of course. Because as far as Ellen Wolf is concerned, Dexter and Miguel's new "murder machine" kind of blows. This episode twists the entire season around - so much so that it runs the risk at ruining past dramatic moments from previous episodes. The grand gesture of Miguel giving Dexter his blood-soaked Freebo shirt? Kaput. Overcoming trust issues? Kapow. Dramatic episode ending revelations? Done. I'm usually not a big fan of ruining past revelations for shock value, but this series, and especially this season, feels like a great build. A tremendous climb into something great.

By the end of this episode, we realize as Dexter does, that he was no one's teacher. And that he never did have a true student. It takes me back to when I wondered about Miguel's actual original reasons for seeking Dexter out. Was it just kismet, or did Miguel already know something about Dexter's murderous ways? He must have known something. Maybe not Bay Harbor Butcher details, but there must have been a definite tear in the fabric of Dexter's facade. I've joked about it here at IGN, but I'm still convinced that both Doakes and Rita's ex-husband Paul are still alive. Or at least that Doakes survived the explosion and crawled to Miguel's swampland summer home and with his dying words upon Miguel's doorstep said "Dexter Morgan is the Butcher....bleeecchhhh." And then he died. Or maybe he just sent Miguel a note. In the mail. You know. Before he was blown to bits.

Graveyards make me horny. How about you?

We find out the grim truth about Ellen Wolf and Anton in "About Last Night". Ellen is, well, dead. Miguel killed her in a truly awful and angry way and then disposed of the body the way he thinks he was taught to...in an open grave. Of course, there's a small window of time before the coffin gets lowered in when it's really a rotten way to dispose of a corpse, and Dexter means to teach Miguel a lesson. He doesn't really want their friendship to end, but he still needs to remind Miguel that he's in control. by the end we realize that, truth be told - he's not. To quote Batman Returns here, Miguel has been playing Dexter like a harp from hell. And the moment when Dexter discovers that the sincerity that Miguel has been shoveling upon him is complete and utter hogwash is amazing. When someone who's been lying to his friends and family for his entire life realizes that he's been fiercely "bullsh*tted" - well, that's great TV.

Miguel feels that Dexter has taught him enough so that he can go out and dispense his own brand of justice to those that he deems to be guilty. At first we feel that there's no way that Miguel knows enough tricks to be able to bust out from underneath Dexter's tutelage. But in the end, when we find out that Miguel's never even gave Dexter and authentic bloody shirt, the bottom basically drops out from under as even Dexter realizes that he's the one who's been used by probably the most emotionally unstable whackopath that we've ever encountered.

As for the grisly truth about Anton is well...he's being slowly skinned alive by The Skinner, George King. For what reason, we're still not entirely sure. Maybe to find Freebo. But King seems to have a thing about "respect" and his blade is the great equalizer. Debra and Quinn hold King for questioning, but eventually they have to let him go - even after Miguel tries to intervene in a darkened interview room. What we don't know exactly is what Miguel said to King. Did he set King free in order to track him down and kill him? Did he tell King that Freebo was dead so that he'd stop his hunt? That mystery still remains. Debra and Quinn arrive in time to save a mutilated Anton in the end, but King escapes into the night. But how will all this come to play out? Even still, Debra is able to learn through her situation with Anton and by working with Quinn that things are never black and white and that we need to live with our regrets, but not condemn ourselves.

We've seen Dexter totally manipulate the system out of a need for survival, but now that Mr. Morgan truly feels rage in his heart over Miguel, will it cause him to crash and burn, or just heighten his game even more? It's almost like it will come down to a race to see who can frame the other guy the fastest. There is a twinge of sadness in my heart over this loss of "friendship" for Dexter. As Harry seems to have been right, Dexter just might never trust anyone again. Dexter felt accepted and admired and now, after "About Last Night," that's all shattered into bits. This episode was great and honest. It lacked the cartoon goofiness of the previous episode and just thrilled me with procedural suspense. And even though we wouldn't want Dexter to rest on its laurels and repeat themes, there's something fun about tracking down a new serial killer.